BILL NUMBER: SB 264	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Wyland

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to amend Section 60850 of the Education Code, relating to
pupil assessment.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 264, as introduced, Wyland. Pupil assessment: high school exit
examination: American history.
   Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
with the approval of the State Board of Education, to develop a high
school exit examination in English language arts and mathematics in
accordance with state academic content standards. Existing law
requires, commencing with the 2003-04 school year and each school
year thereafter, each pupil completing grade 12 to successfully pass
the exit examination as a condition of graduation from high school.
Existing law requires that each pupil take the high school exit
examination in grade 10 beginning in the 2001-02 school year, and
allows each pupil to take the examination during each subsequent
administration, until each section of the examination has been
passed.
   This bill would require that a reading selection that is used as
part of the administration of the examination relate to American
history.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 60850 of the Education Code is amended to read:

   60850.  (a) The Superintendent  of Public Instruction
 , with the approval of the  State Board of
Education   state board  , shall develop a high
school exit examination in English language arts and mathematics in
accordance with the statewide academically rigorous content standards
adopted by the  State Board of Education  
state board  pursuant to Section 60605. To facilitate the
development of the examination, the superintendent shall review any
existing high school subject matter examinations that are linked to,
or can be aligned with, the statewide academically rigorous content
standards for English language arts and mathematics adopted by the
 State Board of Education   state board  .
By October 1, 2000, the  State Board of Education 
 state board  shall adopt a high school exit examination
that is aligned with statewide academically rigorous content
standards.
   (b)  (1)    The Superintendent  of
Public Instruction  , with the approval of the 
State Board of Education   state board  , shall
establish a High School Exit Examination Standards Panel to assist in
the design and composition of the exit examination and to ensure
that the examination is aligned with statewide academically rigorous
content standards. Members of the panel shall include, but are not
 necessarily  limited to, teachers, administrators, school
board members, parents, and the general public. Members of the panel
shall serve without compensation for a term of two years  , 
and shall be representative of the state's ethnic and cultural
diversity and gender balance. The  superintendent 
 Superintendent  shall also make the best effort to ensure
representation of the state's diversity relative to urban, suburban,
and rural areas. The State Department of Education shall provide
staff to the panel. 
   (2)  A reading selection that is used as part of the
administration of the examination shall relate to American history.

   (c) The Superintendent  of Public Instruction 
shall require that the examination be field tested before actual
implementation to ensure that the examination is free from bias and
that its content is valid and reliable.
   (d) Before the  State Board of Education  
state board  adopts the exit examination, the Superintendent
 of Public Instruction  shall submit the examination
to the Statewide Pupil Assessment Review Panel established pursuant
to Section 60606. The panel shall review all items or questions to
ensure that the content of the examination complies with the
requirements of Section 60614.
   (e) The exit examination prescribed in subdivision (a) shall
conform to the following standards or it shall not be required as a
condition of graduation:
   (1) The examination may not be administered to a pupil who did not
receive adequate notice as provided for in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (f) regarding the test.
   (2) The examination, regardless of federal financial
participation, shall comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (42
U.S.C. Sec. 2000d et seq.), its implementing regulations (34 C.F.R.
Part 100), and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (20
U.S.C. Sec. 1701).
   (3) The examination shall have instructional and curricular
validity.
   (4) The examination shall be scored as a criterion referenced
examination.
   (f) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (1) "Accommodations" means any variation in the assessment
environment or process that does not fundamentally alter what the
test measures or affect the comparability of scores. "Accommodations"
may include variations in scheduling, setting, aids, equipment, and
presentation format.
   (2) "Adequate notice" means that the pupil and his or her parent
or guardian have received written notice, at the commencement of
 the pupil's 9th  grade  9 for that pupil 
, and each year thereafter through the annual notification process
established pursuant to Section 48980, or if a transfer pupil, at the
time the pupil transfers. A pupil who has taken the exit examination
in  the 10th  grade  10  is deemed to have
had "adequate notice" as defined in this paragraph.
   (3) "Curricular validity" means that the examination tests for
content found in the instructional textbooks. For the purposes of
this section, any textbook or other instructional material adopted
pursuant to this code and consistent with the state's adopted
curriculum frameworks shall be deemed to satisfy this definition.
   (4) "Instructional validity" means that the examination is
consistent with what is expected to be taught. For the purposes of
this section, instruction that is consistent with the state's adopted
curriculum frameworks for the subjects tested shall be deemed to
satisfy this definition.
   (5) "Modification" means any variation in the assessment
environment or process that fundamentally alters what the test
measures or affects the comparability of scores.
   (g) The examination shall be offered to individuals with
exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, in accordance with
paragraph (17) of subsection (a) of Section 1412 of Title 20 of the
United States Code and Section 794 and following of Title 29 of the
United States Code. Individuals with exceptional needs shall be
administered the examination with appropriate accommodations, where
necessary.
   (h) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit a school district from
requiring pupils to pass additional exit examinations approved by the
governing board of the school district as a condition for
graduation.